Airship
Airships, sometimes known as Skyships, are a form of fast transport during the Age of Industry, using heavily-modified Dwemer tech. History They were designed by the Psijic Scientific Order. They began to experiment with flight in 6E 67, and the first prototype was designed in 6E 96. By 6E 101 the Order was producing lots of them, and the Empire only had access to them at first. Soon enough, though, Samarkand spies stole the designs, and they are now found all over Tamriel. Design The airship is made of a heavily-modified Dwemer design, which had a large spherical "rock" at the centre, which was full of steam. This steam was heated or cooled as needed, in order to give the ship lift or to make it sink. The rock has to be constantly maintained, and there are many valves and pipes in order to keep the pressure from rising too much. Use Originally the airships were just used for transport, but this didn't last long. It didn't take long before the Empire used them in war, and Samarkand soon caught on. Other than by the two large powers, airships are also used by those who serve only themselves, and live a life of plunder. These people, known as skypirates, cause a lot of grief to all who cross their path. Unlike Dick Turpin, founder of the Resistance, they rarely give their loot to the poor and desperate. Crew Every airship needs a crew, and according to the size of the airship this crew will either be minimal or very large indeed. There are three roles that have to be filled: *The Pilot, who steers the ship and stands at the wheel. This is often the captain of the ship, but not in all cases. *The Rockwatcher, who keeps constant attention on the central rock. They can alter the altitude of the airship by either cooling or heating the steam inside the rock, and by changing the pressure. *The Skysailor, who puts up and takes down the sails as required. When the winds are in the right direction most or all of the sails should be up, but if the airship is sailing against the wind then they should all be taken down. On the smallest vessels, designed solely for travel, it is possible to operate with only one person filling each role. However, it impossible for one person to fill more than one role at the same time, and so the smallest crews are three people. Larger airships will usually have lots of crew members filling the role of rockwatcher or skysailor, perhaps even alternating. The huge merchant barges can easily have 100 crew members. Weaponry The large barges that are used as merchant ships have little to no armament. The smaller warships sometimes have a battering ram, which can be used to smash into another ship. This will often destroy the rock at the centre, or simply splinter the ship so badly that it is destroyed. Another common form of weaponry is a large form of artillery found on the side. This is like a large crossbow, and fires a spike several feet in length over long distances. This spike can puncture the rock, or it may splinter the side, or impale unfortunate crew members. During the huge skyship battle in the skies above Brightwall in 6E 184 the Bastard's Edge, the ship of Maximilian DeRaque, used an experimental kind of artillery. This was called a hull-breaker, and was a form of cannon firing a heavy slug designed to tear straight through the hull of any ship it was used against. Trivia *The airships are based on the skyships of the Edge Chronicles, and share many similarities. *The crossbow-like weapon was based on the ballista, an early form of artillery used by the Romans. Gallery Airship-2.png|A larger airship used for transporting large quantities of supplies Category:Age of Industry